Harry Potter Loot Crate Unboxing (May 2017)

This month's Wizarding World crate caught me by surprise. I am currently in the process of moving, and this showed up giving me a respite from everything that goes along with moving. What also really excited me, was the theme. I forgot this month's theme was Dark Arts!

As you can see the seal is embellished with the Dark Mark. While I am primarily a Good-Doing Ravenclaw, I have a small part deep within that is a dark, dark wizard.

I REALLY love the inside look of this box. 

The Death Eater mask print is sooo pretty. I would buy this and wallpaper a room in my new house with this print if it were a thing! The first thing on top of the box, was this great shirt featuring Percival Graves (portrayed by the ever-so-yummy Colin Farrell). My go-to Harry Potter t-shirt is a Bellatrix Lestrange mugshot tee (told 'ya I have a dark passenger) I picked up at Hot Topic many a moon ago, so I'm excited to have another dark and gloomy shirt in my collection!

This next item I was SUPER PUMPED to find in this box. It is a letter stamping set!

It comes with embossed letters featuring the Sytherin snake door. It is not very clear, but I see what it is. Also, I don't know if they are trying to make gel pens a thing again, but I'm not sure how without gel pens or a silver sharpie I'm supposed to write on black cards.

The Sytherin wax seal is something I've been looking for for a long time. Not specifically looking for Slytherin, but a wax seal in general. I think for special mail, it would be really neat to get a letter with a wax seal on the back! So, this is really exciting and saves me a purchase! The whole kit comes with envelopes, wax, the seal, the note-cards, and a black velvet bag. SO NICE.

The next item (or set of items, I should say) is this collection of Umbridge kitten plates. Now, I was pondering of a theme for my new sun room, and these plates gave me an idea so wickedly awesome I HAVE to do it. Yes, that's right, we're going super girly, super dark, and super evil KITTENS! No, seriously, I'm thinking about making the sun room bright pretty and somewhere Umbridge would enjoy torturing reprimanding students.

The next item is an Azkaban slate pencil case, though I'll be using it as a makeup bag or clutch. It feels like a quality bag, and is SO cool. It'll go great with my new t-shirt included with this box.

And we round off this box with Loot Crate's signature item - a collectible pin. This pin, I am OVER THE MOON about. It is Tom Riddle's Diary AND the basilisk tooth used to destroy it. I like this pin. It is dark, it is creepy, and it goes with most of the things I wear on a daily basis, so I could clip in on my jacket, bag, etc.!

The only thing in this box I was a little sad about was the new way they are doing the product descriptions. As you can see, this month's box did not have a scroll. Instead it was a mock letter that folded open. I would have felt better about it had it actually been in a white envelope with wax seal, but a printed fold-open letter felt less magical than the usual scroll.

This month's box exceeded my expectations. The last box or two have been really great, but this crate blows them out of the water. I hope Loot Crate continues to fill these boxes with quality items with varying uses like this!

Until then, I'll be painting, unpacking, and practicing my defensive spells to tide me over until July, which is when we'll get the box themed:

Harry Potter Loot Crate Unboxing (March 2017)

Welcome back, my little muggles, witches, and wizards! It's time to open our third Harry Potter Loot Crate! Again, this is a bi-monthly service you can order via lootcrate.com. 

This month's theme: HOUSE PRIDE.

This time around, there were no issues with timing or shipping, so perhaps those howlers I sent made a difference in post, or perhaps muggle delivery has indeed started to get with the times. Either way, I was SO very excited to come home and find my magical mystery box sitting on my doorstep, and even more excited when upon opening, I see THIS:

EVERY witch or wizard who attends Hogwarts MUST be sorted into his or her house. This is done by the enchantingly enchanted Sorting Hat. The hat originally belonged to Godric Griyffindor, but each Hogwarts founder (Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin) bewitched the hat to be used for sorting students. If you'd like to know more about the sorting hat and/or the sorting ceremony, I'd recommend visiting the Pottermore page about our worn and torn friend, and while you're on the site get sorted yourself!

If you are a muggle, and not too familiar with the wonderful world of Harry Potter, as mentioned above, there were four founders of Hogwarts, and each founder has a house named after them:

Gryffindor

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

For more information on each house, feel free to click the names above. You will be taken to the Pottermore site that describes each house. 

I've always known I was a Ravenclaw, and Pottermore helped solidify that with its sorting hat ceremony. Speaking of hats... 

The first item I pulled out of the box is this AWESOME Ravenclaw beanie. I was really excited to see this item, because in 2014 I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL and bought a pair of Ravenclaw gloves and matching scarf. I could only afford two items, so the hat had to be left behind. However, now I have a complete winter set of Ravenclaw goods to sport my house pride! 

Not only will I be able to sport my house pride in winter, the next item (my favorite in the entire box) will allow me to sport it year-round. 

I love, I repeat, LOVE, 3/4 length sleeves. I'm also over-the-moon about baseball tees. This Hogwarts crest shirt is THE shirt I've been searching for all of my life! Loot crate DEFINITELY tickled my inner sleeping dragon with this! The rest of the box had a hard time living up to the shirt and the hat, which seemed to fit perfectly into my life, however I will definitely use the items.

The Platform 9 3/4 lanyard will definitely come in handy for me. My job requires an ID scan to enter our building, so this will be my handy ID holder. I always find myself digging through my purse to find the darn thing, so this included item was something I needed that I didn't even realize I needed. I'm definitely impressed with Loot Crate's Legilimency skill!

The next item I pulled out is this handy, dandy Ravenclaw duffel bag. I'm afraid to say there was not an undetectable extension charm placed on it, but I can take care of that later. This will definitely be used for short weekend trips or as my new personal carry on bag!

As usual, Loot Crate ALWAYS includes a pin in each crate. I'm collecting my Harry Potter pins to create a awesomely nerdy, punk, pinned-out (faux) leather jacket that I can wear around like I'm too school for muggle school! This one was the Sorting Hat, which is great to know I can have the Sorting Hat pinned on my person for any impromptu sorting issues or requests.

Yet again, I am pleased with this crate. I received some items that surprised me with their usefulness, and fell in love with the shirt included. I do wish there would have been a vinyl Pop! in these crates (maybe a notable character within each house), but that's just because I've got the collecting bug for those things.

I am eagerly awaiting May's crate, because, while I am a Ravenclaw, I have a bit of a Slytherin side, and May's crate's theme is:

DARK ARTS

Until then, stay happy, stay safe, and always enunciate when traveling via the Floo Network!

Harry Potter Loot Crate Unboxing (January 2017)

Welcome back, my little muggles, witches, and wizards! It's time to open our second Harry Potter Loot Crate! Again, this is a bi-monthly service you can order via lootcrate.com. 

This month's theme: TIME.

Funny thing, time. It is also EXTREMELY ironic that this crate came late. On January 6th, I received the following email from LootCrate:

Now, this could have sent a fangirl into a panic, however, I let it slide, since obviously the Ministry was not going to help with the time turner issue regardless of how many howlers I sent. Fortunately, the crate was not terribly late, I received it today (Friday, January 27th, 2017), with only minor delay from FedEx Smartpost - it was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday, but alas muggle postage can be finicky at times. I digress...

This afternoon after a long day of work, I returned to my domicile to find my "muggle worthy" package sitting outside my front door. Quicker than you could say "alohamora" I let myself in and took to opening this much-awaited crate.

First impressions were great. Two of my very favorite characters were staring right at me! The box was lovely and time-themed. As you can see, the lid is decorated with a time turner, and the grey objects are also time-turners that create this beautiful pattern!

My first thing to grab is my very own Luna Lovegood POP! Vinyl figure.

       


I've started collecting these, and Luna is one I do not have. So, I'm excited to take her to work and put her next to Dobby and Bellatrix on the bookcase in my office!

The next item up is this lovely shirt:

Why oh why didn't this crate come with tissues?! Alan Rickman's passing is still a tender topic in this household, and this shirt does him (and Snape) justice. This beautiful quote is Snape's from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the full conversation in which Dumbledore and Snape are discussing Harry and Snape's protection of him is as follows:

I have spied for you, and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter—’  

‘But this is touching, Severus,’ said Dumbledore seriously. ‘Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?’  

‘For him?’ shouted Snape. ‘Expecto patronum!’ 

From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe: she landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.  

‘After all this time?’  

‘Always,’ said Snape.

This exchange reveals Snape's unending love of Lily Potter, Harry's mother, is what has motivated his protection of Harry throughout his life. It's a beautiful moment in the book, and a moment by which most of us were very moved.  

Having peeled myself off of the floor, drying my tears, and blowing my nose, I moved on to see what mysteries lay beneath these two wonderful items.

Next up were these awesome Platform 9 3/4 socks. Hopefully, they'll keep my tootsies warm while I think about making it through the wall. One would look rather funny just running head-first into a wall at the train station. 

What better way to DEFINITELY make sure you make it through to the platform than making sure you are on time! You can definitely be sure this next item, a beautiful Deathly Hallows pocket watch, will help with that!

And if for some reason, your watch is running slow or some Niffler pilfered your beloved watch, maybe, just maybe, the next item can help...

Yes! A time-turner! Now, I'm 100% certain this is Ministry approved, or else I'm sure it would have been confiscated along the shipping route. 

We also got this lovely Harry Potter Prophecy Pin - here's hoping I don't drop and shatter it while in a fight for my life with Death Eaters. 

And, as usual, I save my item list for last (I like to be surprised), but again, it was in this really awesome scroll that I am going to keep and create a mini ancient library in my study with the ones I receive. 

All-in-all, I LOVED this crate just as much as the first crate. 

I will use every single item that was sent, and this is a definite value and a fun gift I gave myself that keeps on giving throughout the year. I can't wait to see what March's crate holds, I'm super pumped for it's arrival, because the theme is....

HOUSE PRIDE!

Now the countdown begins...

Harry Potter Loot Crate Unboxing (November 2016)

If you know me, you know I am HUGE Harry Potter fan - so huge that I have the Deathly Hallows tattooed on my wrist. Yes, a big enough fan that I will eternally be marked as such. I. LOVE. HARRY. POTTER. So, the moment someone on Facebook tagged me in a post about the newly revealed Harry Potter official Loot Crate box, I WAS IN. I was on www.lootcrate.com faster than you can say "Accio wallet!".

       Fortunately, I was there early enough that I was able to snag one of the box subscriptions - apparently, they sold out pretty darn fast (not surprising). I usually don't like to make large purchases, but I had been perusing for a subscription box to try out for quite some time. It was October (my birthday month), and I figured why not get myself the gift that keeps on giving (every other month... for a year.). After ordering this subscription box, I was very impatient. I scoured the internet looking for dates they would ship, and when I would be able to tear into this lovely, magical box! It looked like they would ship mid-November for those who were within the first batch purchased - THAT WAS ME!  When I finally received the "shipped" email notification, I went off the chain tracking my little box of wonder's journey to me.

There was a mild freak-out moment when my Post Office held onto the box for a whole day instead of dispersing it with the mail the day it was receivied - I was afraid either someone had stolen my goodies or they had found some sort of magical creature and had it detained. Fortunately, neither was the case, and the very next day, I had this waiting on me when I got home from work:

It was even "Muggle Worthy", which is probably what saved it from being discovered!

Upon opening it, my face was aglow from the magic inside. 

I do! I want to be a wizard (or in my case witch). This box gets me - things are starting out excellent already! As you might be able to tell, on top was a lovely folded t-shirt with a New York newspaper printed on it. It detailed all of the disturbances that were apparently being caused by wizarding exposure, fantastic beasts, etc. I was VERY pleased.

Next there was a scroll! The scroll was shipped wrapped in a small rectangular box to keep it's shape and prevent crushing. It was really fun to see it, and I particularly enjoyed the "wax seal" (it was a sticker, but I'm going to pretend it was wax). It unrolled to tell you a little more about the goodies within the box itself, however I didn't unroll it until the end (I like to be surprised with every treasure I find).

My first find was this adorable Bowtruckle Lapel Pin. If you haven't seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you should. These little guys steal a part of your heart, so now that I have my very own bowtruckle friend, I'm never truly alone.

The next item I happened upon in the box was a POP! Vinyl figure of Tina Goldstein. Again, if you haven't seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them - GET ON IT A.S.A.P.! Before this box, I only had 1 POP! Vinyl figure - Garrus Vakarian - but I might try and snag all of these Fantastic Beasts one's!

The next thing in the box was this BE-A-UTIFUL Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA)leather journal. On the front it is embossed with MACUSA's crest and has gold flake, and the back is just as beautifully embossed. I love journals, I love to write. I have meant to pick back up journaling more often, and I think this will help start me off wonderfully!

The next two things stashed away were a Pigwidgeon plushie and this awesome Hedwig//Owl Post key chain. The Pigwidgeon plush is right up my alley. I love pig, I love Ron, and I love the Weasleys. If I had an owl, Pigwidgeon would be him! As for the key chain, I was SUPER stoked for that. I had been looking for a new key chain for my work keys - I had migrated my key chain from my old job to my new job and the old key chain was stretchy and had gotten all stretched out and floppy and unmanageable. This is sturdy, snaps perfectly onto my purse, and holds my keys in style! 

So, basically Loot Crate knocked this one out of the park. THIS Potterhead is very pleased with every single thing she received in her box (and even with the box itself). I can't wait to see what comes in the next Wizarding World crate - ACCIO JANUARY!

Fallen Series: Rapture book review.

Rapture by Lauren Kate

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Fallen

Some of Kate's descriptions are lovely, and this book definitely takes some unexpected turns. The way in which the story of Daniel and Luce plays out is really rather poetic, and left me with a warm feeling in my heart. Young Adult fans should definitely cap off the Fallen series with this final installment of Daniel and Luce's story. Romance, danger, violence, and ethereal mysticism fill this book to the brim. It left me wanting it not to end.



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